Scientific publications
Clinical outcomes of temporary mechanical circulatory support as a direct bridge to heart transplantation: a nationwide Spanish registry
Barge-Caballero E (1), Almenar-Bonet L (2), Gonzalez-Vilchez F (3), Lambert-Rodríguez JL (4), González-Costello J (5), Segovia-Cubero J (6), Castel-Lavilla MA (7), Delgado-Jiménez J (8), Garrido-Bravo IP (9), Rangel-Sousa D (10), Martínez-Sellés M (11), De la Fuente-Galan L (12), Rábago-Juan-Aracil G (13), Sanz-Julve M (14), Hervás-Sotomayor D (15), Mirabet-Pérez S (16), Muñiz J (17), Crespo-Leiro MG (1).
BACKGROUND:
In Spain, listing for high-urgent heart transplantation is allowed for critically ill candidates not weanable from temporary mechanical circulatory support (T-MCS). We sought to analyse the clinical outcomes of this strategy.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
We conducted a case-by-case, retrospective review of clinical records of 291 adult patients listed for high-urgent heart transplantation under temporary devices from 2010 to 2015 in 16 Spanish institutions. Survival after listing and adverse clinical events were studied. At the time of listing, 169 (58%) patients were supported on veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO), 70 (24%) on temporary left ventricular assist devices (T-LVAD) and 52 (18%) on temporary biventricular assist devices (T-BiVAD).
Seven patients transitioned from VA-ECMO to temporary ventricular assist devices while on the waiting list. Mean time on T-MCS was 13.1 ± 12.6 days. Mean time from listing to transplantation was 7.6 ± 8.5 days. Overall, 230 (79%) patients were transplanted and 54 (18.6%) died during MCS. In-hospital postoperative mortality after transplantation was 33.3%, 11.9% and 26.2% for patients bridged on VA-ECMO, T-LVAD and T-BiVAD, respectively (P = 0.008).
Overall survival from listing to hospital discharge was 54.4%, 78.6% and 55.8%, respectively (P = 0.002). T-LVAD support was independently associated with a lower risk of death over the first year after listing (hazard ratio 0.52, 95% confidence interval 0.30-0.92). Patients treated with VA-ECMO showed the highest incidence rate of adverse clinical events associated with T-MCS.
CONCLUSION:
Temporary devices may be used to bridge critically ill candidates directly to heart transplantation in a setting of short waiting list times, as is the case of Spain. In our series, bridging with T-LVAD was associated with more favourable outcomes than bridging with T-BiVAD or VA-ECMO.
CITATION Eur J Heart Fail. 2018 Jan;20(1):178-186. doi: 10.1002/ejhf.956
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